Maharashtra: Nilesh Rane \'retires\' from politics

Mumbai: Former MP and Union minister Narayan Rane’s son Nilesh Rane on Tuesday caused a stir in Maharashtra politics by announcing his retirement from active politics.

“I am stepping aside from active politics and there is no reason other than the fact that it no longer interests me as much,” Rane wrote on X.

Nilesh is the elder son of Narayan Rane, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and current Union Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. His younger brother, Nitesh Rane is a sitting member of Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha from Kankavli constituency.

Nilesh said that he had received a lot of love from the people for which he is very grateful and he feels fortunate that he got an opportunity to work in an organisation like the BJP.

“I learned a lot in politics and some colleagues have become a family forever, I will always be indebted to them in life,” he wrote.

In 2009, Nilesh was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency of Maharashtra as a Congress MP. However, in the next (2014) general elections he lost to Shiv Sena's candidate Vinayak Raut.

In 2019, he contested from his father’s own party Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha, only to be beaten for the second time by Raut. The Rane family later joined the BJP.